Category Archives: MicroStrategy Inc

MicroStrategy Mobile BI /w Apple. What a self destruction

MicroStrategy Inc

Recently three have been a lot of noise about the MicroStrategy, Inc created tools targeted to Apple users (iPod, iPad etc). More than 200 re/twits a day. Mind boggling. During recent MicroStrategy World held at Cannes, France, MicroStrategy, Inc showcased these tools with lot of fanfare. But I highly suspect MicroStrategy gaining market share or big business, just because they have Apple specific application. This is akin to an Automaker betting big one a new car launch that has only extra sun roof in the new model. give me a break dude. How many of you buy a new car just because it has a new swanky sunroof added. None. Only fools will buy that. and Betting big on Apple tools totally amazes me. Take an example of usual application world. We have something called as plug-in to applications or 3rd party tools. Over period of time, some plug-ins become must have for end users. In fact, some time application maker itself become a competitor to plug-in/3rd party tool maker. Apple Tools are not really exciting for sane business people, at least they should not be. It is strange that MicroStrategy is doing very little to publicize the integrated support to Blackberry, which exist for more than 3 years. What a pity.

Something, that’s really extremely good is MicroStrategy, Inc hypnotizing the people who are decision maker for purchase. Unfortunately no Technical person accompany them during these Tech (read, Trade) show. Take an example of my current client, one of Fortune 100 company. The Stake holders are people who seems to have little knowledge about what’s being built using MicroStrategy in their respective team. The presentation shown by MicroStrategy Sales team make everything like piece of cake, dynamic dashboard looks like child play. But unfortunately reality is not so close to that. First of all, minuscule %age of Report Requester and/or End Users really use the premium feature of MicroStrategy. Dynamic dashboard is not easy stuff. This is not really related to Apple Tools, but for the business users of MicroStrategy products.

Now cut back to Apple Tools, which are nothing but a Marketing tool. Hold you breathe, One can not see the flashy dynamic dashboard reports on any Apple appliance as Steve Jobs thinks Adobe Flash, platform on which MicroStrategy Dynamic dashboard run in MicroStrategy Web, are the biggest reason of Apple iPods/iPads crashing and doesn’t have Adobe Flash.

I don’t know if Blackberry was failure, but betting on Apple which has very small penetration among Business users is a stupid idea. You can get the eye ball but sales and I pity anyone buying MicroStrategy for its Mobile Application. This is not an innovative idea like Twitter/Facebook that change the landscape for everyone. FB/Twitter were unique and they created a market for themselves, Saylor saying that Mobile BI would be a game changer for MicroStrategy, is a very bad calculation. You have been industry leader for rest of you in BI landscape, but Mobile BI.. Game changer.. ha ha ha ha…

MicroStrategy is coming to India (May be)

MicroStrategy Inc

Finally … finally.. it looks like that MicroStrategy, Inc would be setting up the offshore development center or at least some support office. I say looks like because MicroStrategy, Inc is run by a single man’s fanatics (or lunacy), that single man is CEO, who has finally realized the importance of setting up a shop in India (This guy still can have a change of mind). It is some what sad that MicroStrategy, Inc is last BI product maker setting up office in India (sad not because I’m an India, but their god that intelligence about the price advantage.) IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Google, Cognos, SAP.. you name it and they not only have call center, offshore development center but R&D division in India too.

MicroStrategy as a product has no future in India. Not because Indian don’t understand TCO but the Indian mentality that I must get to see (something physical or quick results) when I’m spending such a big money. Just to explain, I have few businessmen friends, who say “What the hell you work in Software? I don’t see it. I make building …… (add anything into construction).. worth tens of millions and people can see it.. what do you guys do. why should I spend so much money for something that I can’t see” This is not an isolated case but a great reflection of Indian mindset. I know of few shops who do business of INR 1 million a day and spend 3 hours (9 pm to midnight) just in (manual) accounting. They just hate computers. Tax evasion is also a reason, through records can be shred in computers too.

MicroStrategy most probably would be having office at Pune and may pull the team working on MicroStrategy QA and documentation at Cybage. The team there must be ~ 35. I don’t have any contact for last 2 years, but a guess. Few work is done by another company, I do not wish to name.

But I’m really thinking what the domain name they would be having. :)

BusinessObjects vs. MicroStrategy

3rd Party, MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy Inc

On the MicroStrategy-website white paper can be downloaded, tells where in 10 pages why Business Objects is beaten in all possible fields of MicroStrategy. As my readers, but certainly the decision not want to leave a competitor and is also intended for the subtle but important details of interest, I have made the following (incomplete course) to compare the features of MicroStrategy and Business Objects.

As mentioned before, I have considered only the features relevant to the SQL generation of meaning. I have also considered that MicroStrategy and Business Objects to build on fundamentally different approaches and some features are therefore not simply comparable. Such radio ions so I left aside.

The plus sign in the table means is that each tool has an important feature that for the other product would be implementable, although certainly, but unfortunately is not available.

Some “little things” that are in my view, just very important and therefore be present at every BI tool should not be missing, but in the current release of Business Objects. This is why I have marked with a minus sign.

And now the scoreboard:

Feature MicroStrategy Business Object
1 Automated Aggregate Awareness +
2 Into account the cardinality in SQL generation (eg Subquery with an M: N relationship) +
3 Dimensional metrics and conditionals +
4 Filtering using HAVING (QUALIFY is missing even in Micro Strategy) +
5 Consolidations; Dynamic Groups +
6 Assembly of the key figures within the database +
7 Joins on operators other than “=” (eg BETWEEN Join for Slowly Changing Dimensions) +
8 A simple way to choose one of the join paths (via contexts) +
9 No examination of the object dependencies when deleting –
10 No SQL-Preview for the prompt reply but before the execution –

MicroStrategy has over so much more powerful means for the rapid generation of high-performance SQL code – and that’s without taking account of VLDB countless settings that exist for the fine-tuning of the SQL query for MicroStrategy!

An important advantage of Business Objects is in my view, only the possibility of any conditions in the join between the tables to use shortcuts.

Based on Google Translator of original article.

No SQL-Preview for the prompt reply but before the execution

MicroStrategy Symposium in Dusseldorf (October 2008)

MicroStrategy Inc, Personal

Yesterday I gave a talk at the MicroStrategy Symposium in Dusseldorf. The theme of my presentation was “High-performance reporting with MicroStrategy and Teradata.”

Since I’ve caught a cold last weekend pretty much, was my biggest worry is that I will interrupt my speech every 5 minutes by uncontrollable coughing fits. EinPaar against dry cough lozenges, however, have worked wonderfully and I could entertain my audience for nearly an hour long carefree.

After I’ve heard some even had hundreds of speeches in my life, I wanted to bore my audience in any case with the superficial marketing films.   I simply could not allow that they will be too technical, because I did not sleep the total of the coveted audience wanted to risk it.

I assumed that my audience will have relatively good knowledge of MicroStrategy: otherwise they would not participate in the MicroStrategy Symposium. The Teradata information could however be rather rare so far. For this reason I have my old “MicroStrategy and Teradata” presentations that I prepared for Teradata customers can use without further: they provided the functionality of MicroStrategy in the forefront and dealt with the concepts of Teradata only marginally. I have therefore one new lecture prepared, which has included, inter alia, a 5-slide introduction to the Teradata architecture.

Minus: Some “human losses” during the lecture.
Plus: positive feedback after the lecture.

If you, dear reader, have heard my talk, write me please, what out of your sight was good and what needs improvement.

Original article is here. Translated using Google Translator.

Free Reporting Suite has changed fate of MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy Inc

I receive a lot of emails from all over the world who wish to learn MicroStrategy and some long lost friends have come asking about learning MicroStrategy. Also the curiosity of learning MicroStrategy have increased in some two quarter. This is based on my emails I receive, comments received on the blog,  my MicroStrategy forum, forum on Orkut and some other communities too. 6 months back big number of Fortune 100 companies were going down and MicroStrategy 9 seemed to have not big bang for MicroStrategy, Inc. But the FRT has simply changed the way MicroStrategy Inc ‘s future is going to take shape. Though it does mean drastic loss of revenue per license sold, but finally MicroStrategy Inc have realized they can’t continue being $$$ greedy for long. They have survived for 2 decades, but if they would have had remained same, they wouldn’t have been able to stay in BI market for long. I know the Fortune-100 companies will not let MicroStrategy Inc die as 90 out of them use MicroStrategy as the primary BI investment or only BI tool.

Coming back to fate change. I don’t see MicroStrategy Inc trying to capitalize on fresh availability of MicroStrategy professionals in job market. FRT has led to thousand of clients of seeing/trying MicroStrategy clients for the first time and realizing what were they missing for so many years. BO and Cognos are piece of crap in front of MSTR. They don’t match anything except the ease of development, but that leads to several other complexities in case of BO/Cognos too. I mean, metadata syncing.. never ever heard of that. :roll:

A bigger picture would become by Q1  2010. MicroStrategy World 2010 is due in a week and majority of sales lead would be getting closed by end of Q1 2010. I hope they are really doing good. (I do not consider myself good in doing anything other than MicroStrategy 😯 )

P.S. This is just thought that came in my mind. Blog topic doesn’t go with the blog post. :(